Thursday, May 3, 2012

Want to invest?

One of Mama Kat's writing prompts this week was "an invention you'd like to see created". I know just the thing. A child-friendly device that would reduce the clutter of aspiring artists like mine. Something made for the kids who can go through a pack of markers and 60 sheets of paper in two weeks flat. For the creative minds.

The esteemed display location for the most amazing children's art is, of course, the refrigerator. Kids gleam with pride when their masterpieces are stuck with magnets to the one appliance that is the heart of the kitchen. It is a simple, easy place to display everything - not to mention the family calendar, a coupon or two, baby announcements from friends....

It can get pretty messy.

I once made the horrible mistake of throwing away several Amelia drawings. I let them rest on the top of the trash can in the middle of the day. She saw them and nearly had a panic attack. With tearful eyes, she implored me to "get them out!".

I made her a hanging box for her gazillion papers:

But in her 4-year-old world, nothing compares to the sacred museum that is the fridge.

I need a toy company to make a simple, kid-friendly, magnetic scanner/photo display. Similar to the digital photo frames that scroll through images of your last amazing vacation, this could scroll through thirty or forty images of art from days past. It could stick on the fridge with a simple slot for kids to feed in their latest creation. It would scan the masterpiece and automatically load it into the digital display rotation.

Amelia would love it! It would clean up my refrigerator, so I would love it too. The downfall, I think, would probably be the price. It would need to be durable and aesthetically pleasing, with scanning and digital display technology. But since it would be in the "toy" category, it would probably require a relatively low price point. What would you pay for such a gadget?

Fisher Price, want to reach out? Investors, got some cash for prototypes? Please click the email button floating on the left side of this page.